Police are looking for owner of a diesel-powered silver Ford truck with raised suspension and loud exhaust that some residents said had been seen in the area before. Several witnesses told investigators that the truck swerved to strike a Labrador retriever named Buddy and then made two U-turns before hitting the second dog, an Alaskan malamute called Lucy, on Highway 74 in Valle Vista near Hemet Saturday.
Witnesses said several people were screaming for the driver to stop while he tried to plow into the animals and then made a third U-turn in an apparent attempt to strike a man who was trying to pull the dogs out of the road.
This is likely the first time police and animal control officials have seen this type of animal cruelty, where a driver intentionally aimed to hit the dogs, said Riverside County sheriff's Investigator Jerry Franchville.
"This doesn't happen here. It's one thing for someone to maybe swerve and hit a dog and keep going, but it's unheard of for a driver to keep turning around," Franchville said. "Someone went out of their way to try and kill those dogs."
Ingrid Wyatt, public information officer for the Riverside County district attorney's office, said most animal cruelty cases result from abuse or neglect.
"As far as intentionally running over an animal like that, it's pretty, what's the word I want to use, pretty heinous," Wyatt said.
Anyone convicted of felony animal cruelty could get up to three years in state prison and or a fine of $20,000, Wyatt said.
The dogs that were killed Saturday and later buried were exhumed by Riverside County Animal Services on Tuesday so necropsies can be performed.
Riverside County Animal Services Director Robert Miller said his department digs up remains maybe twice a year, usually in cases where people who hoard animals have buried the ones that have died of neglect in the backyard.
"I've never see this scenario, where the animals were killed, the bodies returned to the victims and we ended up having to request the remains," he said.
The family of McKenna Sawicki, owner of the malamute, is offering a $100 reward for information about the incident. Ron Harding, owner of Hemet Auto Air and Radiator, said Wednesday he would put up an additional $500.
Police ask anyone with information to call sheriff's investigator Kevin Duffy at 951-791-3400 or the Riverside County Sheriff's Department at 951-776-1099. If you have information on this case, please contact:
Kevin Duffy
951-791-3400
References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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